Vegas Golden Knights Report Card: Ryan Reaves
Ryan Reaves enjoyed a career-year from a production standpoint in 2018-19, while still staying true to himself and playing an aggressive and destructive style of hockey.
Ryan Reaves: Grade B-
Our 2018-19 Vegas Golden Knights Report Cards continue today as we focus on Ryan Reaves, who put up career-numbers last year while still doing his job to great effect on the fourth-line.
His Season
After being acquired in a trade from the Pittsburgh Penguins on Feb, 26, 2018, Ryan Reaves became an instant hero in Sin City after scoring the winning goal against the Winnipeg Jets in Game 5 of the Western Conference Final, a goal that sent the Vegas Golden Knights to the Stanley Cup Final.
Reaves established himself as an anchor on the bottom-line for the Knights, producing a string of dominant displays as he bashed his way through the opposition, finishing 2017-18 with 10 penalty minutes and 75 hits in 21 regular season games.
And the enforcer was at the peak of his powers in 2018-19, giving the Golden Knights a physical presence while also being effective in the offensive zone. Reaves achieved career-highs in goals (9), assists (11), points (20), power play points (3), total shots attempted (160) and CF% (54.8).
It was a stunning year from a production standpoint for a player who isn’t known for his offensive prowess but, like so many of the players on the Vegas roster, Reaves has been able to add another string to his bow and, as a result, elevate his game to another level that no one thought possible.
It wasn’t just in the offensive zone that Reaves thrived, either. The 32-year-old bruiser proved to be a pest for the opposition night in and night out alongside Pierre-Edouard Bellemare and William Carrier, with the trio playing on the bottom-line together for 46.76 percent of the season. And you could rename that line ‘the line of doom’ given how effective the three were together, combining for a bone-crushing 653 hits.
Reaves was used on the penalty kill with Bellemare and Carrier, while he was also given time on the power play, playing alongside top-line center William Karlsson and Cody Eakin for 18.22 percent of his total time on the man advantage. That further illustrates Reaves’ important to this franchise and his ability to be able to play in a number of different situations.
The right wing also achieved career-highs in a number of other areas, including ATOI (10:52), faceoff wins (40), 305 hits and 37 takeaways, only giving up 11 giveaways although that was also a career-high. In other words, Reaves was absolutely dominant in 2018-19 for the Golden Knights and, although you could argue that he’s overpaid for a fourth-line grinder with an average annual value of $2,775,000, he certainly earns his money for the work he does on and off the ice.
He hits like an absolute train, plays hard in the corners, gives his team a jolt of energy when they need it and he’s also a mighty fine slugger, winning four out of four tilts in 2018-19, including a clash of the titans showdown against Evander Kane in the postseason. Reaves is also a high-character guy and his infectious personality makes him a real glue guy in the locker room, which is a valuable commodity in modern-day sports.
Reaves played in all seven of the Golden Knights’ postseason contests against the San Jose Sharks, although he was held without a point with a plus/minus rating of -1, totalling 17 penalty minutes, averaging 8:45 minutes of ice time per night and dishing out 38 hits.